The exhibition of works by Gert and Uwe Tobias opens in Florida in December 2012, before moving to the Whitechapel Gallery in April 2013. The exhibition forms part of a three year collaboration between the Whitechapel Gallery and the Gallery at Windsor, brokered and managed by Nine AM.

Gert and Uwe Tobias’ large woodcuts, gouache paintings, typewriter drawings and ceramic sculptures combine influences from traditional folk art and abstract art from the early 20th century. For their exhibition at Windsor, the twin brothers will create a site specific installation of large woodcut prints of vibrant, jewel-like colours conceived for the unique environment of the Gallery.

Studio visit by Bettina von Hase
Once we have identified the artist(s) and their work for the next show at Windsor, the first item on the agenda is a studio visit. This is one of the most enjoyable and fascinating aspects of our work. An artist’s studio is a hallowed place, a laboratory of new ideas and years of toil in private.

Gert and Uwe Tobias work in Cologne, just outside the centre of town, in a complex of several buildings joined together, which house their parents, their assistants and their families, as well as the studio. They work very closely together; the studio comprises 3 large spaces, where there are a plethora of work tables with collages, paints, and individual wood cuts. The brothers start on new works separately, placing cut-outs from magazines, and amorphous shapes on to paper or canvas, until they have built up a framework. Then, they swap, and each one critiques the initial lay-out of the other.

“We are very respectful of each other, but at this stage, we can say, ‘Oh, I would move that shape over here’, or I don’t think this works’, says Gert. ‘Then, we go back, and try to re-address what the other one has said. There comes a point when the layered work is finished, and then we accept each other’s final choices’.

As one can see from the photos, works are completed via a careful layering process; the jewel-like colours are chosen first, and then wood-cuts made, which are painted, and then pressed on surfaces by the artists themselves. Nothing is delegated, as they explain: “the way we cut items out of magazines, or create wood cut elements, or the pressure we apply in pushing the painted shapes on to the canvas or paper – all this is highly individualistic, and only we know how to makes those choices.’